This trunk has a long a checkered past in our family. First it was my Moms, I think she bought it at a thrift shop. When they moved they gave it to me and I passed it on to my son. It languished in his garage holding junk for several years. My aunt was looking for a trunk so he gave it back to me to give to her. Aunt changed her mind, deciding it was too much work, so it sat in my sun room and kitchen for a few months until I began to tackle it. The first job was sanding it down, the paint was rough and cracked. Two coats of chalk paint on the body and a stained wood top made it much prettier. I used Rub and Buff in a pewter for the hardware. I then lined the inside with old pattern pieces using Mod Podge. A light antiquing stain came next. The top shows off a laurel leaf transfer print to add a little interest. To make the transfer I found a wreath I liked on the internet, enlarged it then printed it on wax paper I spray glued onto card stock. This is a big wreath so it took 4 sheets of 81/2X11 sheets to hold it. After the paper is printed you carefully remove the card stock and tape the wax paper pieces together. Very gently you place the transfer upside down on your piece where you want it, tape it securely and rub with a credit card or back of a spoon to transfer the ink. If you smear it you have to sand it down and redo the whole thing over. That's the reason for all the taping and I know because I messed up the first one. It did help to make pencil marks where the corners of the pages going to help align them correctly. If my transfer had contained words I would have printed it in reverse. A coat of wax and the new trunk was ready for resale at $165.
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| before |
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| bad finish |
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| laurel leaf transfer, i wanted an old faded look |
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| old patterns line the inside |
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| finished |
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